Carried Away
by Burn Our History
Summary: One shot loosely based around spoilers for 3.07. Beth gets sick while Puck is baby-sitting and the situation leads to Shelby turning to Puck for comfort.


Puck wasn't any kind of genius. Hell, most people thought he was a complete moron 90% of the time. But there was really no second guessing getting Beth to a doctor when her forehead felt burning hot against his lips.

He'd been alone with her when she had started wailing. Baby-sitting was one of the few ways he got quality one-on-one time with Beth – Quinn wasn't allowed to be around her anymore after Shelby found out about the frame job she'd tried to pull – so he took it. Even if meant Shelby could go out with that accountant loser with the bald spot who she'd mentioned to Puck.

Things had been awkward since he'd kissed her and he figured this whole dating thing was just her following through on what she called "maintaining boundaries." He'd rolled his eyes a little when she'd said it to him, and almost called bullshit on her because…he had a feeling she was just doing this because she was having a hard time denying whatever was happening between them. Or that there was anything happening between them – 'cus there was. Whatever. He got to spend time with Beth, singing to her and playing with her and just loving on her in general. If Shelby didn't want in on that quality time? Oh well. Her loss.

She'd mentioned that Beth had been kind of listless – whatever that meant – all day, and to watch her, even though she figured Beth was just having a rough time because she was tired. 'She gets this way after missing a nap sometimes,' were her exact words. Puck had been listening. He'd also heard her say just to call if she seemed like she wasn't feeling well. That last bit kind of went out the window when he was cradling Beth in his arms and he felt how warm she was against his neck. He'd gone into the bathroom to grab the thermometer but realized all Shelby had was one of those glass ones. Puck knew where those went and that wasn't about to happen. Not on his watch. He made a mental note to buy her one of those ear thermometers while doing the old 'kiss on the forehead' trick his Nana had used on him and on his sister.

Standing at the sign-in window of the only Urgent Care place in Lima, holding Beth, Puck stared down at the blond girl behind the glass when she asked who he was. "I'm her…babysitter." Dad was dancing on the tip his tongue, because it was at least kind of true. He and Beth _did_ share DNA, and he tucked her in and sang to her more nights a week than he didn't. He was putting money into a college fund for her, since Shelby wouldn't take any of his money to buy her everyday stuff. And he loved her, which mattered more than anything else. When he put all that stuff together, he felt like it made him as much Beth's dad as Shelby was her mom.

He couldn't say it though because, legally, she wasn't his. Besides, if he did, they'd ask him for an insurance card and he didn't have one. He didn't really have anything for her that would help according to the girl. She had short blond hair and despite the fact that she seemed like she was trying to be helpful, Puck didn't like her. She wasn't getting his daughter to see someone fast enough and all the questions – 'Can you get ahold of her mother, how long would it take her to get here, do you know how she's been feeling the last few days, is she doing this, or this, or that' – were getting on his nerves.

Luckily, she took them back to an exam room, probably because Beth's whining seemed like it was getting to be too much for the two other people waiting to be seen. Puck didn't really give a fuck about them, or how they felt, but if it got Beth back to an exam room faster, he was all for that. The nurse taking care of them wasn't nearly as nice as the blond and she gave him a "just do it" kind of look when he opened his mouth to question her when she told him to strip Beth down to her diaper.

He laid Beth down on the little exam table, stroking her arm tenderly in an effort to calm her down. When the nurse put the thermometer in her ear, it made her scream. "You're hurting her." Puck resisted the urge to grab her up when he got the stink eye again.

"It's probably just an ear infection." The woman didn't look at him as she marked the number on the chart. This pissed him off.

"Well, is she going to be seen by an actual doctor?"

Still, she ignored him. "When her mother gets…"

As if on cue, Shelby practically burst through the door and made a b-line for Beth, gently lifting her tiny body to her chest. "Is she okay? What's wrong with her?"

Helpless. That's how Puck felt when she looked at him with her eyes all wide and…afraid. He wanted to put his arms around her, comforting her and his daughter, or at least be able to touch her without this snitty bitch with the clipboard raising an eyebrow. He knew he couldn't though. He couldn't even sound like he cared a little because he didn't want a stranger judging Shelby. So he just shrugged and told her the doctor hadn't seen Beth yet.

x.x.x

Beth was asleep as Puck opened Shelby's front door for her since she refused to put the little girl down. Not even after they were in Beth's nursery. Shelby sat in the rocker, Beth's little head resting in the crook of Shelby's neck. Puck stood for awhile, leaning against the crib and watching them. He knew Shelby'd had the piss scared straight out of her tonight – he felt like an asshole for not telling her in the message he left that it wasn't serious, but he'd been pretty freaked out himself – so he didn't say anything at first. When a few minutes turned into half an hour, though, and Shelby's eyes started to droop a little, he decided to step in.

Lifting her out of Shelby's arms, careful not to wake her, Puck set Beth down in her crib and put her bunny across her arm in case she woke up and got scared. He watched her for a few minutes, thinking about how peaceful she looked and how perfect she was. It was only when he heard the door creak and looked up that he realized Shelby was gone.

He caught her in the hallway, on her way to the living room, he guessed, and tried to reach for her wrist to stop her. She swung her arm away from his grip, which annoyed him so he aimed for her shoulder this time, pulling her to a halt. "Hey. Stop." The words weren't harsh. He didn't want them to be. She needed support, and he knew it. He just wanted to be that for her.

It was dark in the hallway, since they hadn't really turned any of the lights on when they'd brought Beth in, but he could still see the strain in her face. How pale her cheeks were. The tired, glassy look in her eyes, like she could burst into tears at any second. He got it. At least a little, anyways. He felt the same. Thinking that something was wrong with Beth had really sucked the life out of him. There was no worse feeling in the world and he hated that she probably felt that way too.

Shelby looked at him. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her. I know what I said, that it was a lot to deal with raising her on my own. But I couldn't ever live without her."

"Calm down, alright. It's just an ear infection. The doctor said she'd be fine after she takes that medicine he gave her." Puck casually put an arm around her, which led to her pressing her whole body flush against his and burying her face in his chest.

He wasn't really sure what to do since he was pretty sure she was doing this because she was messed up and taking advantage wasn't what he did. At least, not anymore. That kind of thing had gotten him in trouble once and, yeah, he got Beth out of it but he didn't want all the stuff that went along with it, like being treated like he was a creep or something.

Reaching up slowly, his hand moved easily over the back of Shelby's head, stroking her hair. He tried to make his touch soothing, just like he'd done with Beth earlier. "Hey, don't be upset. She's asleep now so she isn't hurting. And according to Wikipedia, baby's get ear infections all the time and come out of it fine. I Googled it when the doctor was examining her. There's nothing to worry about. "

He was pretty shocked when he felt her lips on his. So shocked he didn't actually respond at first because he had no idea what the hell she was doing. Or why she was doing it. After a second of feeling her soft, full lips move against his, and hearing her murmur something – he couldn't tell what, and frankly he didn't much care because this was hot – his lips relaxed, letting hers guide them.

It was way better than the first time, which hadn't been so bad but he kind of liked it more when she made the first move. Her arm snaked around his shoulders, and she pulled herself closer as his hands came down on her hips.

Then, suddenly, she was backing off. Or at least she was trying to. Puck wasn't having it though. She started this and she at least needed to explain what was going on. Actually, he just wanted her to skip all the talking – unless it was dirty – and just go back to the making out…and whatever it led to. He grabbed at her waist, probably a little more roughly than he should have and pulled her back to him. "What are you doing?"

"This is…" Her eyes were locked with his before she could get the 'wrong' he was waiting for out. Even all tired looking, her eyes were so pretty that it almost hurt to look at them. He knew it was lame to think something like that but he couldn't help it. And he really couldn't help pressing her body against the wall when her lips were back to his.

"Say you want this." He was practically begging her as his teeth grazed her neck.

"I…don't think I can…."

Well, fuck. "Then just nod your head or something. I don't care. I just need to know you want to do this. Like really want to. You're not just upset or whatever."

It seemed to take forever for her to do anything, even though it was probably only a few seconds. He couldn't really be sure. He was impatient like that. When she bobbed her head, though, his hand slid under the back of her shirt, his fingers pressing into the small of her back, and his lips were hard against hers.

He'd been with a lot of older women – like more than was probably healthy – and it was pretty easy to figure them out because they were just…well, older versions of the chicks his age. Most of the time, they liked to be talked up and made to feel like they only woman in the world. They just wanted to feel good, and young again. And since their husbands couldn't do it, they let him work his magic and do whatever he wanted to get them there. Then were the ones who just wanted to be fucked, and fucked good. Those were the women he tried shit he saw in porn on. Those were his experiments. And, usually, they loved it. Loved every fucking second of it.

This was different, though. This was Shelby. And he couldn't just bend her over the kitchen table no matter how hot it would probably be.

He wasn't going to be a fucking sap and call it 'making love' or anything like that. But…he cared about Shelby. And _not_ just because she was Beth's mom. Maybe it had been that a little bit in the beginning, but now it had more to do with her, and how she gave a damn about him. She tried to play it off like she was just a concerned adult looking out for him but he knew better than that. When he kissed her, she kissed him back. When they talked to each other about fears and hopes and all that stuff, that was real to him. He knew it was real to her too.

So was this.

"Noah, I…" Before she could finish, he covered her mouth with his and when he moved his tongue along, then between, her slightly parted lips, her fingers twined through the hair at the back of his head.

Yeah, she wanted this. She was trying to act like she didn't, probably because he was way younger and because she shouldn't want to be with him. But she needed it. He could tell when he slipped his hand up her thigh, touching her through her panties.

He could've fucked her right through the wall in the hallway. But he thought that was pretty tacky, especially since his kid – their kid, actually – was like thirty feet away. So he wrapped his arm around her waist, lifting her up a little, which she took as a cue to wrap her legs around him, and turned them around until he was pushing her bedroom door open.

The bed sat pretty high off the ground and had a big, puffy looking blanket on top, so when he sat her down she could still keep her legs around him. Looking at her, he saw her cheeks were all pink now, which was way better than the pale color they'd been before. When he leaned down to take her face in his hands and kiss her, he felt her go for his belt.

He held her face still and asked if she was sure. It really wasn't his style to ask something like that, mostly because if he got someone in bed, he figured they wanted to be there. And it wasn't like she was some young girl or like this was her first time. With her eyes looking up at him, a small smile on her lips, he was starting feel like it was his though. Okay, maybe not his first time – since he really didn't remember what that was like – but it was starting to feel like she'd done a total 180 on him, and that she was more sure than he was.

Puck took her unzipping his jeans and pushing them over his hips as a 'yes.' And when she reached up, pulling on his hair again, urging him back into a kiss, any doubt, or nerves, or whatever, left his mind. Hell, he even grinned against her lips at how desperate she was starting to seem. She hadn't really mentioned any guys from New York – and he really didn't want to think about that at all – so he figured it had been awhile for her. That was totally fine with him since it gave him the chance to show her what she'd been missing out on.

He pulled his shirt off and her mouth moved to his chest, then his stomach. Her tongue traced the curves of his abs and he let out a low moan, reaching behind her neck and tangling his fingers in her hair as she moved back up, pulling his nipple ring with her teeth. "Fuck, Shel." He tugged on her hair this time, but only lightly, so her head fell back, exposing the skin of her neck to his tongue.

Her dress was no challenge for him, especially since she seemed pretty eager to get out of it, lifting her hips so he could pull it off her. What she was wearing underneath was plain ridiculous. So ridiculous that he almost didn't want to take it off…until he thought about the fact that chicks only wore stuff like that when they wanted someone to see it and he wasn't the guy she'd planned that for. It was easy to take it off then and he wasn't disappointed when he did.

Her body was hot and he licked his bottom lip as she laid back and did probably the sexiest thing he'd ever seen a woman do – she ran her hands over her sides, then the curve of her hips and her thighs, making a quiet 'mmmm' sound as she did it. Watching her hands come up the insides of her thighs, he couldn't resist leaning forward to kiss her and slide one hand over the places hers had just been. She spread her legs a little wider for him as his fingers slid easily into her panties and over the warm, wet flesh there.

Leaning back, he caught her ankle, settling on his shoulder and pressing his lips to the inside of her knee. He moved his mouth up the inside of her thigh, and she grabbed his hair, practically screaming when he ran his thumb over her clit. "God, Noah. Please." He'd have grinned if he wasn't so focused on getting her off right now, because her calling his name like that, and begging him for more, was too fucking much for him. Tugging at the panties now, he slid them over her legs, and threw them over his shoulder and pressed his hips to hers.

"Should we like…use something?" He'd never really been into condoms – and like he'd told Finn, it'd worked out for him all but one time – but if she wanted to, he would. When she mumbled something about not worrying about it, he didn't. Yet another thing he loved about cougars? They always had the 'not getting knocked up' stuff on lockdown.

His mouth on hers, her legs now wrapped around him, Puck entered her slowly. She was so soft, and tight, and being inside her was fucking incredible. So was the way she was arching her hips, meeting ever snap of his own, and all the shit she was saying with her lips tugging on his earlobe. How good it felt. How good _he_ felt. How she'd wanted this for so long. He didn't even have to encourage her. She was talking like this all on her own, and he loved every second of it.

His thumb dragged slowly over her lips, his hand landing firmly on her throat as she pulled her legs higher up around him allowing him to hit an angle that made them both moan loudly. He would've asked if she was close but the way she was digging her nails into his back – seriously, it felt like she could draw blood – he pretty much had his answer. This made him drive harder, until he could feel her body clenching around him. He looked down at her, watching her fall apart in front of him, a sight that pushed him over the edge as he tried to ride her through.

It took him a minute to catch his breath as he came down, and as much as he wanted to know how she was, he knew the drill at this point. Staying on top of her and watching her would've been awkward and weird. Asking if she was okay would have been a chump kid move. All he could really do was move off her and lay there, but not too close, because the next move was all on her.

His eyes were closing when he heard her say that maybe they should talk. Propping himself up on his elbows, he looked over at her. She was lying on her side, facing him, with the sheet covering her and her arm tucked under her pillow. He couldn't really get a read on what she was thinking, but she didn't look stressed, or angry or anything, so he took that as a good sign "Alright. Let's talk." He had a feeling he knew what she was going to say – that this was a mistake, and that it wouldn't happen again – but wasn't going to attack or accuse her. Just give her a chance to explain it.

"We probably shouldn't have done that, Noah..."

Figures, he thought. He was about to get up and cut his losses – no matter how much it sucked – but what she said next stopped him.

"…but I'm glad we did."

His eyes were locked on her again and he really didn't know what to say. "Not gonna lie here. You're kind of send mixed signals here. We did it and you were saying all kind of stuff about how into your were, and that was awesome…" He saw a small smile he probably wasn't suppose to when he said that, so he couldn't smirk at her like he wanted to. But Puck was pretty pleased with himself knowing that all the stuff she said during wasn't just her playing a part. "…and you're glad we did but we shouldn't have? I dunno. That seems off to me."

"I told you before. I could lose my job. And maybe even Beth." Her head dropped a little, and he could hear something in her voice change. "I couldn't bear to lose her."

"You said that and…look, if you're that afraid of it, we won't do this again. I won't talk about it to anyone and that's that." He wanted to add on how much that it was going to suck – the not doing it again part, not the not telling. Really, he didn't care who knew. Or who didn't know. At the end of the day, he just wanted to be with her. A lot. But he wasn't gonna make her feel bad about it, even if he felt like garbage. As long as she was okay, and Beth was happy, he'd suck it up.

Shelby looked up at him, and he tried to push the thoughts of how pretty she looked with her hair all messy and falling over her face a little. Since brushing it back was out of the question, he just kept his eyes on her, waiting for her to say something. "I don't want that to happen." Her voice was kind of quiet and soft, but she sounded sure of what she was saying. "Because I don't want you to go anywhere either."

Puck was surprised, but not in a bad way. "Yeah?"

All she did was smile a little, and nod.

He grinned, moving closer to her now and cupping her face in his hand. "So what do we do?"

Shelby's hand came up, her nails running lightly over the side of his head. "Stay like this…when we're here. Then worry about the rest as it comes, I suppose." She leaned up to kiss him again. He'd never get tired of her doing it first. "Can you live with that?"

He smirked, his hands pulling at her hips as he rolled her on top of him. "Yup. Totally can."


End file.
